Barry Bannan reveals all amid the current crisis at Sheffield Wednesday and how the players are feeling about it as the season approaches.
talkSPORT’s Jeff Stelling and Alan Pardew were joined by the Sheffield Wednesday captain to discuss the Owls’ uncertain future due to the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri.
Despite off-field issues like unpaid wages, a transfer embargo, and inadequate training facilities, Bannan signed a new contract, citing his deep connection to the club.
He highlighted the professionalism of the players and staff, who continue working despite financial struggles, and the team’s decision to cancel a pre-season friendly against Burnley as a stand against the ongoing issues.
Bannan emphasised the lack of communication from the club’s chairman, who he last spoke to via Zoom two months ago, and voiced concern for the staff’s financial hardships.
With key players leaving and a thin squad, Bannan acknowledged that his side are expecting to face a tough season ahead but remains committed to leading the team through the challenges, earning praise from fans as a beacon of hope.
🔊 Barry Bannan speaking on TalkSPORT this morning. pic.twitter.com/V2BffLtnqb
— The Wednesday ’Til I Die Podcast (@WTIDPOD) August 5, 2025
Jeff Stelling: We’ve got Barry Bannan now I believe.
Barry: Good morning Barry. Good morning Jeff, good morning Gaffer.
Pardew: Hello Barry.
Jeff: Look, amongst all the doom and gloom you’ve agreed to sign a new contract, so tell us why.
Barry: Obviously now I’ve been there a long time of my footballing career, so I’ve been there this my living season. It’s become a part of my family now, so it was quite an easy decision at the same time as it being a really really hard one. It was kind of… getting to the place where it’s getting close to the kick off now and I wanted to know where I was going to be obviously going forward so obviously with the embargo and stuff makes it quite hard to get it signed but I got here in the end.
Pardew: Bazza I hope you didn’t get a signing on for you did you?
Barry: I don’t know what they are anymore.
Pardew: Just talk to me about the dressing room. I know the dressing room, you’re just going to get on with it and train hard and try and put it all behind you, but it must be top of the agenda with the boys, is it?
Barry: Yeah, it’s really hard because it’s not only the wages and stuff that we’ve been facing the last couple of months. Since we’ve come back to pre-season, we obviously… our pitches weren’t ready so we were training on Astroturf for a bit which you know modern day footballers don’t really get on with Astroturf and then we went away to St George’s but we’ve had the under 23s coaches Andy and Giles Coke who stepped in when the manager obviously didn’t come back so on top of the not being paid which ain’t nice there’s been loads of things as well which from the outside you probably don’t see.
Pardew: Yeah, Ain’t gonna make it easy.
Jeff: I mean I mentioned the friendly against Burnley being off. Your opening fixtures at Leicester. How confident are you Barry that the club will fulfil that fixture?
Barry: Well the lads have been brilliant. Since we’ve come back I can’t complain. I thought it would have been hard to try and to keep the group going and stuff but they’ve been ultimate professionals. Come in, worked hard every day, done the running that you probably don’t really want to do. And you’ve got loads of excuses probably at this time to pull out, but they’ve been amazing to be honest. We’ve kept ourselves really fit, but it’s hard because you don’t know what you’re allowed to do because we’re never really, this never really happens to be honest. It’s never happened to any of us. So we don’t know what the rules and stuff are. So we don’t know what we’re actually allowed to do as a group of players.
Jeff: I mean, there are lot of headlines, aren’t there, about things like players going on strike. There’s no prospect of that, there?
Barry: No, I don’t think so. We obviously pulled out the Burnley game at the weekend. That was simply because it’s happened too much now and I think it’s a lot easier to pull out a pre-season friendly game than it is obviously a Championship fixture. So we took that as, because we’ve come into training and just got on with it and made it look to the outside world that we’re fine with it, we’re just getting on with it so that was our choice then to say enough’s enough really.
Pardew: Yeah and almost like a cry for help isn’t it Buzzy, you know want to know, you want some information and you want to know that you know the families and all the staff at the club are going to get their money and the club’s on a sound footing. Yeah. And I get that and I think you’re right, you’ve done that in the right manner, you’ve done it in a pre-season friendly. But I would suggest that when that league program comes round, you’ll be ready to rumble.
Barry: Yeah, of course. was a bit like, it was starting to go bit quiet and getting kind of forgotten about. And it’s not forgotten about here, before you say it, members who can’t pay mortgages, really, really struggling, players’ families, but the players are all right. are mainly… It’s the staff that we’re having to go in and look at every day who are cooking us meals and cleaners and the little things like that that really affect us as players because nothing’s helped, they’re not getting any help and they’re really struggling. So that’s why we’re at the top of the ladder and it was a strong stand from us to say basically it needs to stop and we need a bit of clarity going forward.
Jeff: And are all the staff still working Barry? they all still coming in even though they’re not being paid?
Barry: Yeah, it’s crazy honestly Jeff, definitely. I think at any other club, this would never… The staff and players wouldn’t deal with the way this club’s dealt with it. They just come in, do their jobs and get on with it kind of thing. But as I said, that’s why we’ve kind of took it into our own hands now to try and help and try and push everyone.
Pardew: Yeah, and you want the narrative to stay in the public eye and you’re quite right, that’s exactly what the staff at that football club deserve, for the players to support them in terms of saying, come on, give us some clarity, give us some help here. know, this great big football club with a great history and a great fan base deserves a lot better than they’re getting.
Barry: Yeah, 100 per cent. It’s more about communication for us going forward as well. We’ve not had a great deal of that, which doesn’t help the situation. Because any sort of communication can help and can hold you back a bit and keep you going a bit longer. But we’ve not had a great deal of communication as well. And that’s what’s really let the players and staff down.
Jeff: Barry, do you ever see the chairman? Do you ever speak to the chairman?
Barry: I spoke to him during my summer holidays. I had him on a Zoom. And I think that was when we were probably just over two months not being paid. That was the last time I spoke to him and it was just asking the questions that he could imagine about paying stuff and he was really sorry and obviously was trying his best to get paid as quickly as possible. So that was the last time I spoke to the chairman directly.
Jeff: Obviously the fans see him very much as the villain of the piece. I’ve got a text here from Ben Brazier who says, ‘Chansiri is deliberately running Sheffield Wednesday into the ground despite the fans and the football authorities are doing absolutely nothing.’ I mean, it’s a desperate situation. Barry, I’ll just end it though. I saw your interview the other day when you signed a new contract, absolutely brilliant. You said your little girl started to cry when you told her you might be leaving the club and she started to cry again when you told her you were staying.
Barry: Yeah, she’s been crying all summer because she was really cross with Josh Windass as well. And I had to tell her that he left and she loved him. So it’s not been a great summer, but hopefully there’s some good news for her.
Pardew: She’ll cheer up.
Barry: Yeah, she’ll be fine.
Jeff: I mean, and that’s the problem isn’t that you’ve got players leaving, you’ve got a transfer embargo. So in some respects, whatever happens, Barry, it’s going to be a tough season.
Barry: Yeah, you could say that, Jeff. I think we’ve got 14 or 15 first team players at the minute. We’ve obviously lost a lot of good players this summer who are probably our best players and our goal scorers. So no matter what happens in the coming weeks, like you said, it’s going to be tough because we’re at race against time now as well to try and get people in, especially the embargoes. It’s going to be hard but we’re looking forward to it because it’s a challenge. That’s what you want in football is challenges. So we’ll take it head on and see what we can do.
Jeff: And Barry, I know that every Sheffield Wednesday fan every Sheffield Wednesday fan so much appreciates the fact that you who agreed to stay on you’ve agreed to sign a new contract because you’re such a key player as far as they’re concerned. So all we can do is wish you and Sheffield Wednesday the best of luck in the coming weeks and months, mate. Thanks very much indeed, Barry. Really appreciate it.
Barry: Cheers, Thank you, Gaffer.
Pardew: You know, one thing he won’t do is hide from the ball. I mean, he loves ball, Barry. Like, you know, he would take it anywhere with any pressure on him. He’s brilliant at that. And they’re going to need that. You know, if they’re going to struggle for goals and, you know, it looks like, you know, the main crux of the team has been ripped out. They’re gonna have to dig in tin hats on and show a bit of fighting spirit and listening to Barry there, you know, he’ll be leading that charge.
Jeff: Yeah, I’ve seen so many messages on social media saying, know, thank goodness for Barry Bannan because he is the one beacon of light in what’s been a very dark period as far as Sheffield Wednesday fans are concerned. My thanks to the Shuffle Wednesday captain Barry Bannan.
